The Tory UK Government's cost-of-living crisis is hitting the people of Wales hard. It is a crisis and, yes, it is one that's been seen approaching. But we do have to acknowledge that the Tory Government is in charge of the parafiscal levers that will radically make a difference. And yet, the want-to-be heir of the Tory crown, the apprentice-apparent, Rishi Sunak, has been missing. He was missing last Wednesday when the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, was fighting for his political life in the House of Commons—he was busy and didn't tweet his support for the PM until late into the night.

And this cost-of-living crisis, as has been stated earlier, it's not about beer or nights out, it is about anaemia, it's about rickets and it's about respiratory disease. So, I welcome strongly the fact that the Welsh Labour Government has been co-ordinating its representations to the UK Tory Government, alongside our colleagues in Edinburgh and Belfast. The Minister for Finance and Local Government, Rebecca Evans, was bang-on when she stated emphatically that Welsh households

'need to see urgent action from the Treasury to help people with rising bills and living costs.'

There will be, no doubt, widespread consensus around the Chamber that rising energy bills are causing huge anxiety and real mental and physical distress, with too many families living in fuel poverty and inflation rising to 5.1 per cent and predicted to rise more. And the Welsh Government has already invested more than £50 million trying to mitigate this issue. This is a cost-of-living crisis on top of the COVID crisis. And the power, if not the political will, lies mostly in the hands of the embattled and feeble Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, and his Ministers, with energy, welfare and levelling up as starters. I would be interested to hear from our Minister what Simon Clarke, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, was able to offer her and her colleagues. And hopefully, the Conservative grandees now sitting in Whitehall towers do recognise R.T. Davies.

Today in this debate I want to say this strongly, and to the Tories of this Senedd: I implore you to step up to the plate and finally stand up for Wales instead of Boris. Age UK has already warned that the predicted 50 per cent rise in energy bills from April could trigger a national UK emergency for millions of older people. The UK Government's price cap on what suppliers can charge is currently £1,277, but analysts are already speculating that this could go up to almost £2,000 on 1 April. We must mitigate the consequences of the major spikes in global prices, and as we enter, finally, the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic, we cannot allow more unnecessary misery to be inflicted on the Welsh nation. Citizens, especially the elderly and the medically vulnerable, should not have to ration, in the twenty-first century, their energy use because of financial pressure. And to take £20 a week away from the very, very poorest in our society at this time is utterly and totally unforgivable. Choosing between heating and eating is something that I hope none of us here in this Senedd should accept for anybody that we represent. I challenge the Conservatives in this place to please get some courage. Stand up to your political masters, stand up for Wales in the Treasury, and stand up for your constituents. Diolch.